Steam-boiler indicator



(No Model.) C. W MOORE.

STEAM BOILER INDICATOR. No. 433,872.. Patented Aug. 5, 1890.

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m: NORRIS Farms 00., mow-mum. WASHINGTON, n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE XV, MOORE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

STEAM-BOILER INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,872, dated August 5, 1890.

Application filed April 4, 1890. Serial No. 346.617. (No model.)

To [0% whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE WV. MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam- Boiler Indicators; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the invention.

My invention has relation to steam-boilers, and has for its object the provision of novel, simple, and efiicient means ,whereby the depth or level of the water therein may be accurately ascertained or indicated exteriorly of such boilers and the fact of the water havlng reached the high or low water mark or danger point may be announced through the sounding of an alarm.

My invention consists of a pair of elastic metal tubes with both ends upturned, the ends of one terminating flush with low-water mark and the ends of the other with highwater mark. Said tubes near their inner ends pass through and are secured in the head or side of the boiler and extend outwardly from the boiler some distance, where they are preferably serpentine or bent back and forth for short distances and then extend back toward the boiler again, where they pass into and sustain a hollow sphere pr globe, the ends of a tube being in the same plane, so that the water in the boiler will pass through the tubes into the globe and depress or allow the latter to rise, assisted by the spring of the tubes, according as the depth and weight of water therein increases or decreases. A weighted lever, with its outer end 111 the circuits of an electrical alarm and its inner end beneath and in contact with the sphere, is actuated by the movements of said sphere under the circumstances above ex plained, the result being that when there is no water in the globe, which is the result of low water in the boiler, the lever will be in contact with the terminal of one of the circuits of said alarm, closing such circuit and sounding such alarm, and when the globe is full, caused by high water in the boiler, the lever contacts with still another contact-poin t, thus closing another circuit, Within which is located the aforementioned alarm, thus attaining the resultfor which my invention is designed.

My invention further consists of certain details of construction and in the combination of parts, as hereinafter more fully described, and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of part of a boiler, showing the application of my improvements thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan View of my improvements, as in Fig. 1, the boiler and spherical chamber being in section. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of my improvements, as in Fig. 2, the boilerand chamber being in full lines. Fig. 4: is an enlargement of Fig. 2 with the sphere entirely removed. Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a detail. Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan view of a modification.

A represents a steam-boiler, which may be of any pattern, and a to represent the lines of high and low water, respectively.

A represents the head or end of the boiler, having formed therein a threaded opening, into which is screwed the flanged plug B, the latter having horizontally-aligned openings therein for the passage of the water-tubes C C, which are secured therein in any convenient manner, the extremities of the upturned ends 0 c of the former being flush with the low-water line a, and the extremities of the upturned ends c 0 01? the tube C being flush with the high-water line a. These tubes extend horizontally at right angles with the head A after they leave the plug 15, then in diagonal lines in opposite directions upwardly and laterally into another horizontal plane, as shown at 0 where they, serpentlike, wind in and out, with an inward trend in a horizontal plane for a short distance, as at C whereupon they turn at right angles with the direction of extent of the serpentine portion and extend nearly to the boiler-head, where they terminate in the upturned ends 0 c aforementioned.

E represents a hollow metallic sphere or globe having two openings in its lowest portion for the passage of the ends 0 c of the tubes C C, which ends are secured to the globe where they pass through its walls. Thus the globe is sustained on said ends, so

that when water gains entrance to the sphere the weight thereof will cause the sphere to drop against the slight resistance of the inherent elasticity of the tubes, and when such water leaves again the spring of the tubes will bring the globe back to its former position.

d d are valves, which may be of any suitable type to aiford means for cleaning out the tubes 0 G and the sphere.

b is an arm formed integral with or secured to the face of the flange I) of the plug B,which extends upwardly at its outer end and is formed with ears or lugs b provided with openings for the reception of a pin If, on which is supported the lever F, between which ears and on which pin said lever is free to vertically oscillate. The inner end'of lever F is provided with a projection, which affords a bearing-surface for a similar projection on the under side of the sphere E, as shown at e.

g is a straight arm cast integral with or secured to the arm Z), but of considerably greater length than the latter, supporting on its outer end a yoke G, provided .with vertical grooves on the inn er sides of its uprights g, the upper portions g of which grooves are of greater width than the lower portions g thereof, said grooves forming vertical ways for a pair of weights g g of equal size, and provided with lateral vertical flanges of slightly less width than the grooves. The object in forming the grooves with different widths is so that the weight g may be lifted by the lever F, which latter projects between the uprights of the yoke G and receives the impact of said weight g a certain distance before the weight g is lifted, the latterin the meantime resting by its flanges on the shoulders g".

ff are contact-points in the outer end of the lever F, which outer end may be insulated from the rest of the lever, and has secured thereto in the usual manner a wire h, leading to the battery H, said points being the terminals of different circuits. For example, when the lever F is in the position illustrated by the drawings, the point f will be in contact with the point 75, thus closing the circuit formed by the wire it, the battery I], the wire h, the bell II, the wire 71 and the wire 71 said point 7.; being the other terminal of this circuit. Thus the bell will be sounded when the lever is in this position, which is caused by the low and dangerous condition of the Water in the boiler, and knowledge of the fact is conveyed to the en gineer. On the other hand, should the Water in the boiler reach the high-water mark, the sphere E will be full of water, which, by its weight, will depress the inner end of lever F, and of course raise the outer weighted end its full extent, bringing the point j" into contact with the point these points being the terminals of a closed circuit formed by the wire h, the battery H, the wire it, the bell H, the wire 7L2, and the wire h. Therefore the bell H will be sounded, and the fact of the water being high will be thus announced. hen, however, the water in the boiler is between the high and low water levels, in which condition there is no danger, the globe E will be only partially filled, and the weight thereof will only be suflicient to overcome the resistance offered by the weight g and raise the same to such extent as to break the contact of points f and 7.3, thus opening that circuit, and the bell will then be silent. Furthermore, even if the water in the boiler be very near the high-water mark, in which case the ball will be nearly full, and its weight sufficient to raise both weights g g partly, the circuit in which are located the terminals f and 7c will not be closed until the water has entirely reached the danger-line and the lever F has been lifted its full extent; nor will all the water leave the globe until the water in the boiler has wholly reached the low-water level. Consequently there will be no sounding of the alarm until the lever F has reached its lowest limit and the circuit (of which the points f and k are the terminals) closed.

lVith my improvements applied to a steamboiler, the person in charge thereof can at a glance, by noting the position of the outer end of the lever F, tell precisely the height of the Water in the boiler and can always rely on the accuracy of the indication, while, should he be in such position as to be out of range of said lever, he will be notified, if there be danger, by the ringing of the bell.

It may be found desirable hereafter to use a single tube in lieu of the tubes C O, as shown in Fig. 6, in which case the one which is provided at high-water level will be dispensed with; also, the form of coil in said tubes may be varied to any extent. The sole purpose of the serpentine portion of the tubes is to facilitate the springing of the ends, upon which is supported the sphere E. In fact, a coil or the like may, if desirable, be dispensed with and said tubes merely bent or curved and led back again to the position of said sphere.

What I claim as my invention is as follows:

1. In a steam-boiler indicator, the combination of the plug B, secured in a suitable opening in the boiler and provided with the arm Z) for the support of a lever and the arm 9 for the support of a weight on said lever, an elastic metal tube or tubes passing through said plug and secured therein, the outer free ends of said tubes passing into and sustaining a water-chamber in contact with said lever, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a steam-boiler indicator, the combination of the plug 13, secured in an opening in the boiler and provided with the arm Z) for the support of a lever whose end is in the circuits of an electrical alarm and the arm g for the support of a weight for said lever, the

tubes 0 O passing through and secured in said plug, their ends 0' passing into and sustaining a water-chamber in contact with and actuating said lever, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a steam-boiler indicator, the combination of a suitably-supported lever, a rigid arm supporting the yoke G, with the grooves g g in its uprights g, in which are held the weights g g imposed on the lever, an elastic metal tube or tubes secured to and passing into the boiler, their outer free ends passing into and sustaining a water-chamber in contact with and actuating said lever, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a steam-boiler indicator, the combination of the plug B, secured in an opening in the boiler, the arm I), supporting the lever F, the arm g, supporting the yoke G, the

CLARENCE W. MOORE. Witnesses:

WM. H. POWELL, R. DALE SPARHAWK. 

